JR LEGO Robotics & Coding

Your Ninja's Showcase

Your Ninja built and coded real LEGO robots this week — there's a lot to celebrate!

The SPIKE Essential kits stay at the dojo. Your Ninja walked you through their favorite robots at our Friday Camp Celebration & Gallery Walk — keep that conversation going at home and ask them to retell their proudest moment of the week.

What We Covered This Week

Throughout the camp, Ninjas explored real robotics at a JR pace — using LEGO SPIKE Essential kits (the JR-age cousin of the SPIKE Prime kits used in our older-kid camp) and the icon-based LEGO SPIKE App. Click any topic to expand.

SPIKE Essential Basics, Motors & Gyro Sensor

Met "Ninja Says!" — a Simon Says warm-up that introduced the idea of following coded instructions
Toured what makes something a robot — inputs in, outputs out (Roomba, Siri, GPS, drones)
Learned pair programming at a JR pace — Driver (types the code) and Navigator (checks it), rotating roles all week
Connected a motor and tinkered with speed, direction, and stop blocks
Met the Gyro Sensor — "the robot's inner ear" — and coded a Tilt and Glow Adventure with different light patterns for each tilt direction

Sound, Loops & the Color Sensor

Built a Classic Carousel from the LEGO Amazing Amusement Park theme — coded it to spin with sound effects
Learned loops — repeat a pattern of blocks again and again instead of writing the code over and over
Met the Color Sensor — "the robot's magic eyes" — and built a Color Spin Carousel that did four different actions when shown four different colors
Connected the lesson to real life — "just like traffic lights tell us stop and go, the color sensor takes in information and decides what to do"

Events: Arctic Ride & High-Tech Playground

Learned what an event is — an action that triggers code to run
Built and coded an Arctic Ride motorized project
Built a High-Tech Playground — combined motors, sensors, sound, and lights in one project
Reflected on what made each build work and what to try differently next time

Avoid the Edge & Monster Trash Machine

Built an Avoid the Edge robot — used the Color Sensor to detect a colored edge and turn before falling off
Built a Monster Trash Machine — a sorting robot that responds to inputs and triggers outputs
Practiced debugging together as a team when the robot didn't do what they expected

Final Project & Camp Celebration

Picked a Final Project — their own design or a favorite build from the week
Tinkered with motors, sensors, sound, lights, and loops to make it their own
Presented their robot at the Friday Camp Celebration & Gallery Walk — parents walked through every Ninja's project and heard the story behind it
Closed out the week with team reflections and shout-outs

What's Next?

Camp week is over, but the fun doesn't have to stop. Explore what's next for your Ninja:

AGES 5-7

12 Weeks
50 min

Get your child started early on STEM and Coding concepts with hands-on tinkering and simple yet powerful coding in ScratchJR and CodeSpark! Completely visual and tactile learning – no reading required!

View Program

AGES 5-14

Mon–Fri
Half/Full Day

Between Minecraft, Roblox, Engineering, Digital Art and more, your child will have a blast with our seasonal Camps! Get ready for a week-long adventure they'll never forget.

View Program

Or come in for a free 30-minute trial →

JR LEGO Robotics & Coding

Your Ninja's Showcase

What We Covered This Week

What's Next?

Moments in the Dojo

Contact Us

Links

Phone Hours

Student Hours

Follow Us